LUSAKA lawyer Joseph Chirwa says UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema’s decision to take his FDD counterpart Edith Nawakwi to court will not solve anything.
And Chirwa says the debate about privatisation is a political issue which Hichilema should address with political answers.
Hichilema has sued Nawakwi for libel following her repeated statements that the UPND leader had illegally personally benefitted from the privatization process in the 1990s.
However, Chirwa said in addition to the explanation he gave on Hot FM, Friday, Hichilema should do more to retrieve documents from Patents and Companies Registration (PACRA) and have them published for all to see.
“I sympathise with Mr Hichilema. The issue of privatisation came in 2006. Mr Hichilema should remove his advisors and replace them with people who are capable of giving him proper advice. Let’s say the court tomorrow says Ms Nawakwi should pay US $3 million to Mr Hichilema, is it going to clear his name? It will not. Mr Hichilema should do what Michael Sata did. Right now, Mr Hichilema should have reported himself to the ACC so that his name is cleared. So, whether or not Mr Hichilema is guilty is not an issue. But going to court and suing Nawakwi is not the answer to the question because it is not only Nawakwi who has those questions,” Chirwa said.
“Mr Hichilema is vying for presidency and he is just a heartbeat away from being president. Let him provide answers to the questions that have been asked about him. Taking Nawakwi to court will not resolve anything. [In that interview on Hot FM], he asked me a citizen to go to PACRA to go and check the records there. Do you think citizens from Bauleni can go to PACRA to go and check the records? The interview was on point but he should go a step further. He should go and retrieve those forms from PACRA and publish them for Zambians.”
He said the debate around privatisation was a political issue which needed political answers.
“There is no legal answer to the questions on privatisation. It is a political question and we all know that. The question on privatisation started a long time [ago], but why has it come today? It is politics. So, Mr Hichilema should have a political answer to the issue at hand. Quite alright, Mr Hichilema has a right as a citizen to protect his integrity by suing for defamation but that is just one per cent of the solution. What I am going to tell Mr Hichilema is that he should do more to clear his name, so that all of us who are voters are able to get a perspective,” said Chirwa. “As long as he keeps the truth swept under the carpet, there will always be suspicions. In as much as it is unfair to Mr Hichilema, I believe a lot should be done for Mr Hichilema to clear his name. And this issue cannot be put to bed by taking people to court.”
7 responses
Yes if someone calls you a thief taking them to court solves some issue. Even if it is politics should we be so careless with the language we use? We can discuss, even argue without insults.I am surprised this is coming from a lawyer.
What kind of Lawyer is this one who does not speak with wisdom?
Thou shall not bear False Witness against anyone is Commandment number 9 which carries a death penalty! The wages of sin is death! Sin is transgression of the Ten Commandments Law 1 John 3:4. There is no knowledge of sin apart from the Law Romans 7:7. Where there is no Law, sin is not imputed! Defamation of character is a very serious crime and must never be trivialized in the name of politics. Fidelity to Facts is what good politics is all about!The allegations made by Nawakwi were very serious fabrications, especially that she was speaking on air as someone who was in charge of the Privatization process. Imagine the injury to one’s character!
Nawakwi is not new to politics and she should know better how mature politics ought to be done. She sunk so low to the point of becoming emotionally personal. Defamation of another person’s character in the name of politics is not politics but criminality. She must be sued for all she is worth from head to toe to set her as an example to would be offenders. I would advise HH to go on a suing spree against anyone who attempts to bring his name into disrepute. A restraining order must also be obtained from the courts against all peddling lies against HH so that they should have no excuse when legal action is taken against them! A good name is worth more than any amount of possessions!
So Mr good Lawyer, advise people correctly.
Yes, i think Mr Chirwa is correct. My President needs to do just that! Even the evidence he gave us on that interview needs to be published for every Jill and Jack to read. I am very certain that Mr HH is very innocent.
Counsel Joseph Chirwa is misleading himself with his empty clanging arguments. Edith Nawakwi clothed her privatisation allegations against HH in libellous language. Edith Nawakwi as a former minister of Finance during the privatisation program knew very well that what she was saying was defamatory. It is not a political issue when whole you are doing is misleading the public and intent at bring another person into public odium
A lawyer who does not understand why courts exist ?he does not even know his criminal law regarding the offense of libel?this one is a shame to the legal fraternity
Dim witted lawyer, if someone called you a thief in public is the court of law not the best place to go? Your comments add no value to the issue at hand. Either you bought your credentials from matero university or you are just another paid cadre brought in to bring confusion.
As much as your advice is good and welcome, there maybe questions to it. HH says he was not a director at SUN International Hotels, how then can he be allowed access to the PACRA documents he was not a party to? Can he even be allowed to access documents from a government agency if he was not an authorized person? If indeed he was a director, don’t you think he was going to have copies of PACRA documents? Don’t you think the only way for these documents to become public is through a court process? You lawyers have made us to believe it’s only proclamations from the courts that can clear someone’s name.